


Strange Beginnings

by mbwalrus



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Comatose Stiles Stilinski, Feelinski, Flirting, Happy Ending, Little bit of angst, M/M, Pre-Slash, Surgery, sort of a red band society au thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-15
Updated: 2014-11-15
Packaged: 2018-02-25 10:45:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2618924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mbwalrus/pseuds/mbwalrus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The guy looked up from his book, startled by Derek’s voice, his mouth falling open and his eyes wide. “Hi…what are you doing here?”</p><p>Derek chuckled. “I was hoping you could tell me that…are we dead?”</p><p>Stiles snorted and shook his head. “No, I’m in a coma.”</p><p>Derek furrowed his eyebrows in concern. “What? Am I in one, too?”</p><p>Stiles shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, are you? What’s the last thing you remember?”</p><p>“I had to get an emergency appendectomy.” Derek replied, rubbing his side.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strange Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> I got this idea partially from a Red Band Society episode, but it just grew from there. I hope everyone likes this, I may add more to this verse. I know I should be updating my fic Picking Me Up When I've Fallen Down, but I've been a little stuck, so writing other things helps with my inspiration and creativity.
> 
> Please let me know if I need to tag something or if there are any mistakes!

Derek didn’t realize that the horrible pain that woke him in the middle of the night would be the best thing to ever happen to him.

He didn’t realize that Laura driving him to the hospital and the doctors telling him that his appendix was extremely close to rupturing and needed to be removed as soon as possible would be something life-altering.

A routine surgery that called for a general anesthetic, nothing major.

He hadn’t expected it to change his life. He hadn’t expected to meet Stiles.

~

After he woke up in the hospital room, the memory of the tall, skinny young man was fuzzy in his memory and he wrote it off as a dream.

It wasn’t until he looked to the other side of the room that he saw him, the man from his dream, lying in the bed hooked up to tubes and wires, unmoving.

Derek sat up in his hospital bed, ignored the twinge in his side where the appendectomy had taken place, and tried to get up.  
Laura, who he hadn’t even noticed up until that moment pushed at his shoulder from the chair that sat next to his hospital bed.

“Whoa, Der. You don’t need to get up until the doctor clears you.” She said gently. “You need a bucket or something?” She asked, wondering if the anesthetic had made him nauseous like it made her.

Derek shook his head and looked at his sister with wide eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

Derek swallowed thickly. “Um, I think I met him while I was having my surgery.” He said, glancing at the bed in the other side of the room that the man was lying in.

Laura gave him a skeptical look, “I think the anesthesia hasn’t completely worn off,” She started, but stopped when she saw Derek’s pained gaze.

“I’m not messing around.” His voice cracked on the last word, letting how freaked out he was show. Laura held his hand and squeezed it gently.

“Okay, tell me what happened.”

Derek took a breath and glanced at the man again before focusing his gaze back on his sister. “I remember waking up in a white room, and my side was killing me, so I went out of the room, which led to an even bigger white room,” He rubbed his side before continuing, “I walked around for a little bit before I found him. He was sitting at a white table reading a book.”

~

_Derek was amazed to find someone else in the room. “Uh, hi.” He spoke up, breaking the silence._

_The guy looked up from his book, startled by Derek’s voice, his mouth falling open and his eyes wide. “Hi…what are you doing here?”_

_Derek chuckled. “I was hoping you could tell me that…are we dead?”_

_Stiles snorted and shook his head. “No, I’m in a coma.”_

_Derek furrowed his eyebrows in concern. “What? Am I in one, too?”_

_Stiles shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, are you? What’s the last thing you remember?”_

_“I had to get an emergency appendectomy.” Derek replied, rubbing his side._

_“Ah, you’re just under anesthesia then, you’ll be out of here and back in the real world in no time.”_

_The man’s soothing voice calmed Derek significantly. He nodded in understanding and moved to sit across from him. “So, how long have you been here?”_

_“A couple months, I think, I don’t know the date unless the nurse tells me, which isn’t too often. I’m Stiles, by the way.”_

_“You have a nurse in here? And I’m Derek.”_

_Stiles grinned and shook his head. “No, but I have a nurse out there, in the real world. I hear and smell everything that happens around my body. Whoever said that comatose patients should be talked to, is a really smart person. I can even feel when people touch my body.”_

_“How did you get in a coma?” He asked, rubbing his side. “If you don’t mind telling me, that is.”_

_“Nah, it’s fine. Car accident, my jeep’s piece of shit breaks went out and I t-boned a care when I couldn’t stop at a red light. Thankfully the people in the other car were fine. I, on the other hand, was left with a head injury. The doctors had to put me in a medically-induced coma so that my brain swelling could go down.” He smiled sadly._

_“I’m sorry. That really sucks.” Derek replied, frowning at the sad look on Stiles’ face. He also thought about how easily he could have fixed Stiles’ breaks if he’d brought his jeep to Derek’s auto repair shop that was just outside of town. On the other hand, Derek wasn’t sure if he would’ve had the courage to talk to Stiles if he showed up at Derek’s shop. He probably would have sent Boyd or Erica to talk to him while he watched from his office. He snapped out of his thoughts when Stiles sighed and then spoke._

_“It’s okay, it’s not actually so bad. I get visited a lot by my friends and my dad. I just wish I could let them know I’m listening. So, enough about me and my depressing accident, tell me about you, big guy.”_

_Derek felt his cheeks go warm from Stiles’ nickname as he tried to figure out what to talk about. “Well, I woke up last night with a really bad pain in my side, my sister had to drive me to the hospital and I went into emergency surgery to remove my appendix.”_

_“What’s your sister like?”_

_“I have two, actually, but Laura is the one that drove me. She’s older and really overbearing at times, but that’s because she feels a need to mother me since we don’t live with our parents anymore. Besides that, she’s hilarious and she understands me pretty well, which means a lot, since I’m pretty closed off from most people.”_

_“Closed off? You seem pretty talkative to me.”_

_“Yeah, well, Laura tells me to always talk to cute, nice guys.” Derek felt his cheeks warm even more,_ where did that come from?

_Stiles’ cheeks turned red. “You think I’m cute?”_

_Derek grinned and nodded. “Yeah, you seem surprised.”_

_“Well, I don’t get flirted with often, especially as of late.”_

_“I don’t flirt with people that often, so you should be flattered.” Derek grinned._ Seriously, where was this coming from?

_Stiles laughed and gave him a wide smile. “Oh, believe me, I am.”_

_Derek smiled back at Stiles before a wave of drowsiness washed over him like a sudden downpour. His eyes blinked slowly as he tried to focus on Stiles’ face. “What’s happening?”_

_Stiles frowned slightly. “Aw, you’re waking up, big guy. The anesthesia is wearing off and I was just about to ask you out.”_

_“What ‘bout you?” He slurred._

_“I’ll be here, until I wake up. If I wake up.”_

_“You’ll wake up, Stiles. I promise.” It felt like cotton was stuffed in Derek’s mouth and his eyelids felt so heavy._

_“I hope you’re right, Derek, Now go to sleep.”_

_Derek’s eyes finally slid shut and the next time he opened them he was in the hospital room._

~

Laura let out a breath. “That was quite a story.”

“Do you think it really happened?” Derek said, quietly.

Laura took a breath. “Well, if you’re right about that stuff, like his name and the details of the accident, then it must have happened. How else would you have known that?”

Derek shrugged. “So, you believe me.”

“Of course I do. We just need to fact check you first to make sure we’re not both crazy.”

“How the hell are we going to do that?”

Laura was about to speak when a tan skinned man with dark hair and a crooked jaw walked into the room. He looked at them and his mouth fell open a little in surprise. “Oh, sorry. I can come back later.” He said, starting to leave the room again.

Laura gave Derek a wide-eyed look as if to say _‘how lucky are we?’_ before she looked at the guy. “Wait, you don’t need to leave.”

The guy turned back around and gave them a wide smile. “Thanks. I’ll be quiet, promise.”

Laura shook her head and stood up to shake his hand. “It’s really no problem. I’m Laura, that’s my brother Derek.”

“I’m Scott. I really don’t mean intrude, I just wanted to say ‘hi’ to my friend.” He said, sheepishly.

“You’re not intruding at all, Scott. Just pretend we’re not even here.” She said, sitting back down. “Derek’s still a little loopy from the anesthesia.”

Scott chuckled and nodded, finally relaxing. He walked over to Stiles’ bed and sat in the chair beside it. He placed a hand on his arm and smiled sadly. “Hey, buddy. I hope you’re doing okay.” He cleared his throat.“We had our first lacrosse game last night. I, uh, was really lonely on the bench without you there.” Scott’s voice cracked and he started wiping at his eyes. Derek felt his heart clench and the look on Laura’s face told Derek she was feeling the same thing. Scott took a deep breath before he started talking again.

“Mom and I are still making sure that your dad is eating healthy. She’s actually gotten really good at making veggie lasagnas, they taste pretty good now. You’d like it. Not as much as curly fries, but still.” He paused, as if waiting for a response from Stiles, and then frowned when nothing happened.

“Anyways, I love you, man. I’ll come see you as soon as I can.” He stood from his seat and fixed the blanket of Stiles’ bed so that the comatose man’s shoulders were better protected from the cold and then turned to leave the room.

Derek, panicking at the thought of Scott leaving without giving them more information, spoke up. “What’s your friend’s name?”

Scott turned to Derek. “His name is Stiles.”

Derek heard Laura’s intake of breath and ignored it to continue speaking with Scott. “Car accident?”

Scott nodded, albeit a little suspicious of Derek asking. “Yeah, the breaks of his jeep went out. Why?”

Derek shrugged nonchalantly. “I had an aunt who was in a coma after a car accident. She woke up after a few months, so I’m sure you’ll friend will be fine.”

Scott perked up immensely after Derek’s words and smiled brightly. “That’s great, thanks for telling me that. It was really nice meeting you both, but I’ve got to get going.” Scott said with a wave as he left the hospital room.

Laura made sure Scott was gone before turning to Derek with wide eyes. “Oh my gosh. This is amazing, I don’t know how, but you really did meet him.”

Derek was actually a little freaked out that he’d been right, that this wasn’t just a dream. He rubbed his temples. “Laura, I’m sorry, but can I be alone for a while. I need to sleep and figure out what’s going on.”

Laura nodded understandingly and walked over to Derek to give him a peck on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay.” Derek waved as his sister left the room and then he turned on his side to watch Stiles. Which definitely wasn’t creepy.

~

When Derek woke up the next morning, there was a nurse in the room with them, and she was scrubbing at Stiles’ skin with a sponge after she sprayed his skin with some kind of dry soap. After she finished an area, Derek saw that it was red and irritated looking from all the harsh scrubbing.

“There’s no need to be rough with him.” He said, glad that his voice made her jump in surprise.

“I’m not being rough.”

“You’re making his skin all red, you need to be gentle. He can feel things, he’s not a corpse.” Derek said, voice rising.

The nurse turned on him and settled her hands on her hips. “Excuse me, but I don’t see you with a nursing degree, sir. This man is in a coma, he’s practically brain dead, I doubt he can feel anything, especially not pain.”

Derek rose up and felt his side protest, but he ignored it. “Even if he was brain dead, which he isn’t, that doesn’t give you an excuse to scrub his skin raw!”

“Is there a problem here?” The nurse and Derek both turned their heads towards the doorway, where the man had spoken. He was older, but in good shape, and he was wearing a sheriff’s uniform.

The nurse looked flustered and shook her head. “No, Sheriff Stilinski, I was just finishing Stiles’ sponge bath. I’ll be going now.”

Derek glared at the nurse until she was out of his sight and then he looked at the Sheriff. The Sheriff had moved to Stiles’ bed and sat in the chair beside it. Derek was shocked to see that the Sheriff had tears in his eyes and he rubbed gently at Stiles’ now pink arms, trying to soothe them. “I told her she was scrubbing too hard.” Derek said, still angry that she had just left without apologizing.

The Sheriff looked at Derek. “I know, thank you for doing that for my son.”

Derek shrugged, since it wasn’t a big deal, he was just doing what was right. “You’re his dad?”

The Sheriff nodded. “Do you know Stiles?”

Derek shook his head. “No, but I met Scott yesterday, we talked for a little while.”

“Scott’s a good kid, he comes to visit Stiles almost every day.”

“They seem really close.”

“They are. Practically brothers, those two.”

The two of them sat in silence for a little while. The Sheriff checked over his son, but didn’t say anything and Derek just watched. (Which again, definitely wasn’t creepy.) The Sheriff got up from the chair, probably to leave, when Derek had a thought.

“Sir? What happened to Stiles’ jeep?”

“Sitting in my garage collecting dust. It’s totaled, but I can’t get rid of it. It was my late wife’s and then Stiles’.”

Derek nodded. “I’ve got an idea.”

~

Later that day was time for Derek to be discharged from the hospital, since the surgery had gone well and he wasn’t reacting negatively to the anesthetics or the medications he had to take. Laura was already outside, waiting in the car, while Derek was getting changed. He glanced at Stiles when he was finished changing and bit his lip. Despite the dream/other world thing, Derek hadn’t touched Stiles’ or spoken to him. It felt weird, since he’d seen him so lively before. He felt such a connection to Stiles. The otherworld experience (was that even a fitting name for what happened?) had been amazing; he had never willingly said that much to a person he’d just met and he felt like they were already at least somewhat friends because of that.

Derek walked over to Stiles’ bed and tentatively laid his palm on top of Stiles’ hand. He held his breath and…nothing. Stiles just kept lying there. Derek sighed and squeezed his hand gently with his own. “Please, wake up, Stiles.” Derek bent down and gave Stiles a kiss on the cheek before he turned and left the hospital room.

~

Four Months Later

  
Derek sat at his desk in his office at the auto repair shop and filled out an order form for some parts he needed for the rebuild of Stiles’ jeep, which he’d been working on since he told the Sheriff about the idea four months ago. He heard a knock on the door and looked up as Erica poked her head in his office. “You’ve got an unsatisfied customer.”

Derek frowned. “What?” Usually if someone was unhappy with their work (which wasn’t often, they were great at what they did) Erica would call them a dick.

Erica rolled her eyes. “I don’t know, that’s just what he told me to tell you. Come deal with him.”

Derek sighed and got up from his desk and went into the repair bay. Erica told him the guy was outside and he nodded, already dreading talking with the guy. He walked outside and looked around before spotting the guy and the air left his lungs like he’d been punched in the gut.

“A cheek kiss, really, big guy?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed. Leave a comment and tell me what you thought about it!
> 
> <3


End file.
